Improvement in sulky-plows



` firmly together'.

PATENT OEEIos-i LORENZO D. BOWMAN, OF BEDFORD, TENNESSEE.

IMPROVMENT IN SULKV-PLOWS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 179,761, dated July 11, 1876; application filed April 1, 1876.

to be a full and correct description of the same, reference being had to the accompany- -ing drawings, in which the figure is a side View, partly in section.

The object of my invention is to so arrange a gang-plow that the driver can not only regulate the depth at which the plows operate, but hold them at any desired dept-h, while sitting in his seat upon the plow.

My invention consists in attaching to the carriage of a gang-plow a shaft Operated by a lever, which, bymeans of toggles and links, will allow the driver to raise and `lower the plows while he sits in his seat, and, by means of a notched hoop and pawl and ratchet, can hold the plows firmly at any desired depth of ln the drawings, A represents the axle, and B the wheels, of an ordinary gang-plow carriage. Secured to the axle A in the rear are two blocks, C, between which the beam vD of the plows E E is hinged by means of the bolt c. Extending from the standards of the plows E tothe axle A, and from standard to standard, are braces b, by which the gang of plowswhich may consist of any number-are held Upon the top, and extending in front of the axle A,.is the platform F, which serves as a rest for the drivers feet and support for the operating devices, and also the connection by which the whole apparatus is drawn forward. Upon the rear part ofthe platform F are two standards, in which are the bearings of the horizontal rock-shaft e. The shaft e carries, ucar one end, the ratchet-wheel H, and at the other end the arm I and hand-lever J. The arm I is firmly attached to the rock-shaft e, and is attached at the'other end to the rear end of the plowbeam D by means of the link i. The handlever J, by which the shaft e is rocked, is

sharpened on one edge, and may be admitted into the notches in the notched rim or hoop K, one end of which is secured to the aXle a and the other to the platform F. Upon the platform F, in front of the ratchet-wheel H, is a pawl, L, hinged to the platform F, and engages the ratehets in the ratchet-wheel H. At the hinge upon the platform the pawl L is provided with a short lever, l, by which vthe driver, with his foot, may raise the pawl L from the ratchet-Wheel H. A suitable seat,

M, is placed upon standards upon thevplatform F, for the driver to sit upon while plowing.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The driver, while sitting upon the sea-t M, can press forward the hand-lever J, and by so doing will turn the rock-shaft e and carry the end of the arm I forward, which, by means of the link i, will raise the end of the plow-beam D, and consequently the plows E E. When he has raised the plows to a sufficient height, he will force the sharpened edge of the lever J into one of the notches of the notched rim K, and prevent the plows from descending. At the same time he will allow the pawl L, which he has elevated by pressing his foot upon the lever l, to fall into one of the notches of the ratchet-wheel H, which will prevent the plows from rising, and consequently they are held firmly in their place.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a gang-plow, an apparatus for elevating` or depressing the plows, consisting of the combination ofthe rock-shaft e, hand-lever J, notched rim K,.link t', ratchet-wheel H, and pawl L l, substantially as described.

The above specification of my said invention signed and witnessed at Shelbyville, Tennessee, this 14th day of March, A. D. 1876.

LORENZO DOW BOWMAN.

Witnesses:

R. P. FRIERsoN, HORACE S. COOPER. 

